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Recent policy efforts have attempted to increase the number of dual enrollment courses offered within Career and Technical Education pathways and there is evidence to suggest that this practice is widespread. However, there is very little research on student participation in CTE dual enrollment and on its impacts. This study examines participation in the CTE dual enrollment pathway in North Carolina, finding that about 9% of North Carolina students participated in CTE dual enrollment courses in 11th or 12th grade and disparities in participation among subgroups were less than for college transfer dual enrollment courses. Using a quasi-experimental approach to examine the effect of the program, the study found that participation is CTE was positively associated with college credits earned in high school, graduation from high school, and overall enrollment in college within one year after high school. The study also examined results by subgroup.

Project EQuIPD--Engaging Quality Instruction through Professional Development--sought to establish and test for efficacy a professional development model to produce highly qualified teachers in STEM practices for all children, especially for students who are in traditionally underserved schools and districts within the State of Florida. The project did this by providing two years of intensive professional development that helped teachers use system thinking to infuse technology-based inquiry into their regular instructional practices. The project also prepared the teachers, using a train-the-trainer model, so that they could train other teachers and sustain the work moving forward. This brief provides a summary of key findings from the impact study of Project EQuIPD. If specific information on program implementation and on the impact study--including the methodology and detailed impact findings--can be found in the technical report, "Improving Teachers' Instruction: The Impact of Project EQuIPD. Final External Evaluation Report" (ED618488).

This report represents the final results of an evaluation of Project EQuIPD--Engaging Quality Instruction through Professional Development. The project provided two years of intensive professional development to help teachers learn to think more strategically about how to improve student outcomes using technology-based inquiry instruction. The project also prepared participating teachers to train their colleagues. Led by the University of Florida, Project EQuIPD was a three-year grant awarded through the U.S. Department of Education's Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) Program. The project was implemented in 121 schools in ten counties in Florida. The impact of the project was studied with a randomized controlled trial. Key findings from the evaluation include: (1) The program was able to implement all intended activities, modifying some of the delivery methods in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) On a survey, treatment teachers reported statistically significantly higher levels of knowledge and higher implementation of EQuIPD instructional practices than control teacher; (3) Observations of teachers' instruction showed no statistically significant overall differences between treatment and control teachers, although treatment teachers scored higher on implementation of inquiry practices than control teachers; (4) There was no significant difference in teacher retention or overall attendance between the treatment and control groups; and (5) There were no differences between treatment and control groups on overall measures of student achievement. The COVID-19 pandemic likely impacted the project's impacts and it is possible that results would have been different if the context had been different. [For the summary report, see ED626193.]

The College and Career Readiness Expansion project was a five-year, federally funded effort to implement early college strategies in comprehensive high schools. This report presents the results from a quasi-experimental impact study of the project and a mixed methods examination of its implementation. Results showed that the program increased the percentage of students on-track for college in 9th and 10th grade and expanded the number of students taking dual enrollment courses, although there was no positive impact on college credits earned in high school. The implementation study found that schools were created a more future-oriented culture.

Early colleges are a new model of schooling in which the high school and college experiences are merged, shortening the total amount of time a student spends in school. This study uses a lottery-based experimental design to examine the impact of the model on longer term outcomes, including attainment of a postsecondary credential and academic performance in four-year institutions. Results show that a significantly higher proportion of early college students were attaining postsecondary credentials. The results also show that early college students were completing their degrees more rapidly but that their performance in four-year institutions was still comparable to the control students. [This is the online version of an article published in "Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis."]

Early colleges are an innovative model of schooling that combines high school and college. A 14-year, rigorous experimental study has been examining whether this model works. The study compares early college students who were accepted through a lottery to students who applied to early colleges but were not accepted through the lottery (the control group). This brief gives an overview of the early college model as implemented in North Carolina, the study's design, and the model's impacts on student outcomes. [This brief is based on the following peer-reviewed article: Edmunds, J.A., Unlu, F., Furey, J., Glennie, E., & Arshavsky, N. (2020) What happens when you combine high school and college? The impact of the early college model on postsecondary performance and completion. "Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis" (EJ1253291).]

The STEM Early College Expansion Project is an effort to integrate STEM strategies with the early college model and implement this in comprehensive high schools. This report summarizes findings from two separate quasi-experimental impact studies of the model in Michigan and Connecticut. Results from Michigan showed statistically significant impacts on enrollment in college-level courses and on attainment of college credits. Treatment schools in Michigan also had descriptively lower dropout rates. The Connecticut impact study had challenges with the study design that resulted in an inability to make clear causal claims about the impact.

This study examined why some seniors attending Early College High Schools did not plan to continue their education at a 4-year college immediately after graduation despite attending schools designed to provide coordinated academic and social supports with the expectation that all students would continue their education. Most students in our study (75%) did plan to continue their education at a 4-year college immediately after graduation. For the remaining students, we used cluster analysis to identify four distinct groups of non-college bound students. These groups were evaluated based on background characteristics, perceived opportunities and barriers, and schooling experiences. Results indicate that non-college bound students are diverse in their reasons for not continuing their education at a 4-year program and that any reform efforts designed to personalize opportunities and supports for these students must take into account how combinations of perceived opportunities and barriers shape their postsecondary decisions. [This paper was published in "Psychology in the Schools" v56 n7 p1117-1138 2019 (EJ1221093).]

As originally conceptualized, Early Colleges were small schools focused purposefully on college readiness for all students. Frequently located on college campuses, Early Colleges targeted students who might face challenges in postsecondary education, including students who were the first in their family to go to college, economically disadvantaged students, English Language Learners (ELL), or students who are members of racial or ethnic groups underrepresented in college. The Early College Expansion Partnership (ECEP) is among the first large-scale effort to apply Early College strategies into comprehensive high schools. Supported by a $15 million grant from U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation (i3) program, the ECEP was designed to increase the number of students graduating from high school prepared for enrollment and success in postsecondary education. The project sought to blend high school and college by applying strategies from the successful Early College high school model to 14 middle schools, 12 high schools, and two 6th-12th-grade schools in three districts in two states: Colorado and Texas. ECEP implemented an adapted version of the Early College High School Model. The program provided a set of services that supported implementation of a whole-school reform model emphasizing the creation of a college-preparatory school environment. A primary emphasis of the program was increasing the number of students who participated in college-credit-bearing courses while in high school. This report describes describes: (1) the district context in which the program was operating, documenting changes that occurred over the life of the grant; and (2) the implementation of the five "buckets" of implementation supports: (1) technical assistance to districts; (2) leadership coaching; (3) the Community of Practice; (4) instructional coaching; and (5) the i3 Cabinet. Each section begins with an overarching description of the common activities occurring across the three districts. This broader description is followed by district-specific write-ups that describe how the supports were adapted for the specific district context. Each section also includes a measure of the Fidelity of Implementation for that activity. Finally, each section concludes with a description of lessons learned, specific to that activity. The report concludes with a discussion around the extent to which the different supports will be able to be sustained after the grant ends and a synthesis of lessons learned from this work and includes participants' recommendations around how to replicate this work in other settings. [For the companion report, "Transforming Comprehensive High Schools into Early Colleges: The Impacts of the Early College Expansion Partnership," see ED618202.]

As originally conceptualized, Early Colleges were small schools focused purposefully on college readiness for all students. Frequently located on college campuses, Early Colleges targeted students who might face challenges in postsecondary education, including students who were the first in their family to go to college, economically disadvantaged students, English Language Learners (ELL), or students who are members of racial or ethnic groups underrepresented in college. The Early College Expansion Partnership (ECEP) is among the first large-scale effort to apply Early College strategies into comprehensive high schools. Supported by a $15 million grant from U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation (i3) program, the ECEP was designed to increase the number of students graduating from high school prepared for enrollment and success in postsecondary education. The project sought to blend high school and college by applying strategies from the successful Early College high school model to 14 middle schools, 12 high schools, and two 6th-12th-grade schools in three districts in two states: Colorado and Texas. ECEP implemented an adapted version of the Early College High School Model. The program provided a set of services that supported implementation of a whole-school reform model emphasizing the creation of a college-preparatory school environment. A primary emphasis of the program was increasing the number of students who participated in college-credit-bearing courses while in high school. This report describes the approach used to assess student impacts and to track changes over time; uses survey and site visit data to describe key changes that have been made at the district and school levels; presents the impact estimates for the core student-level outcomes; places the findings in context and discusses the broader implications of this work; and summarizes the overall findings. [For the companion report, "Implementation Supports of the Early College Expansion Partnership," see ED618696.]

Given the positive impacts of the small, stand-alone early college model and the desire to provide those benefits to more students, organizations have begun efforts to scale up the early college model in a variety of settings. These efforts have been supported by the federal government, particularly by the Investing in Innovation (i3) program. This paper will describe current efforts to take the early college model and apply it in multiple settings and It will describe programs being supported by three i3 grants, focusing on the commonalities of these three efforts. The specific questions addressed by this paper include: 1) How are providers conceptualizing the scaling up of the early college model? 2) What adaptations are expected as the model is being scaled up? 3) What are early lessons learned from the scale-up efforts? The results report that one of the primary lessons learned by project and school staff was the importance of early and frequent communication about the goals of the project and the importance of working with leadership at both the district and school levels.

Students entering high school in 9th grade face a formidable challenge. The transition to high school from 8th grade brings with it increased risks for all students. For example, students in 9th grade are anywhere from three to five times more likely to fail a class than students in any other grade. Similarly, ninth grade retention rates are higher than in any other grade. More importantly, research indicates that 70 to 80 percent of students failing in 9th grade will eventually dropout of high school. Early College High Schools (ECHS) are a new model merging high school and college designed to increase the number of students who graduate from high school and enroll and succeed in college. This paper presents results from a longitudinal, experimental study of ECHS, tracking students from 9th grade through graduation from high school and enrollment in college. This paper will examine impacts of the ECHS model on "underprepared" students, defined as those students who did not pass the 8th grade state exams in either or both reading and math. "Prepared" students, on the other hand, are those passing both exams. In this paper, the authors report on the impact of the model on the performance gaps between underprepared and prepared students from 9th-11th grades. This paper addresses the following specific research questions: (1) Are underprepared students more likely to be from traditionally underrepresented groups such as first generation, minority and free/reduced price lunch students?; (2) What is the impact of the ECHS model on these students' academic performance?; and (3) How does that impact compare to the impact on students who are prepared? This study focuses on ECHSs as implemented in North Carolina. North Carolina has the largest concentration of ECHSs in the country, with over 70 across the state; all managed by the same entity, the North Carolina New Schools. The 19 schools that are a part of this study are geographically distributed throughout the state; they include schools in rural and urban areas, schools with predominantly white populations and schools with predominantly African American populations. Results from this experimental study show that it is possible for schools to have an impact on students entering high school at-risk for academic failure and dropout. These data suggest to us that the reduction or elimination of performance gaps in the early college is a product of a purposeful implementation of a high quality learning environment with high expectations, rigorous courses and instruction, positive relationships, extensive student support, and teachers taking responsibility for student learning. Tables and figures are appended.

To address concerns about low graduation rates and a lack of workforce readiness, states and districts have been experimenting with different models of high school reform. One of the most popular models has been the Early College High School (ECHS) model, small schools that blur the line between high school and college. Since 2002, over 200 ECHSs have been created under the auspices of the Early College High School Initiative, which is primarily funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. North Carolina has the largest concentration, with over 70 ECHSs across the state. The purpose of this study is to rigorously examine the implementation and impact of the Early College High School model in North Carolina. This study is the first to utilize a longitudinal experimental design to assess the impact of the ECHS model on student outcomes. The study has three main goals: (1) Determine the impact of the model on selected student outcomes; (2) Determine the extent to which impacts differ by student characteristics; and (3) Examine the implementation of the model by site and the extent to which variation in specific model components is associated with impacts. Nineteen ECHS in North Carolina are participating in the study. Early results from this study show that the Early College High School model is having a positive impact on many outcomes associated with remaining in school and becoming ready for college. These results suggest that the ECHS is making substantial progress towards its goal of graduating more students who are ready for college and work. Although these findings are very positive, they are restricted to the model as implemented in North Carolina. Other early colleges around the country may not follow the same design principles and may not receive the same level of assistance in implementation as the schools in North Carolina; as a result, their results may differ. (Contains 1 figure and 4 tables.)

This paper addresses methodological issues arising from an experimental study of North Carolina's Early College High School Initiative, a four-year longitudinal experimental study funded by Institute for Education Sciences. North Carolina implemented the Early College High School (ECHS) Initiative in response to low high school graduation rates. The goal of the initiative is to increase the number of students graduating from high school and who continue on and succeed in college. The study has three main goals: (1) Determine the impact of the model on selected student outcomes, including course-taking patterns, achievement, attitudes, and dropout and leaving rates; (2) Determine the extent to which outcomes differ by student characteristics; and (3) Examine the implementation of the model and the extent to which specific model components are associated with positive outcomes. Schools participating in the study identify an eligible pool of student applicants. The research team then randomly assigns students to either the treatment group (attending the ECHS) or the control group (business as usual). The outcomes for students in the two groups are then tracked and compared. The study follows an intent-to-treat model in that once a student is assigned to ECHS, he or she remains in the treatment group regardless of whether he or she ends up enrolling in ECHS, or leaves ECHS. Findings suggest that ECHS has the same impact on pass-rates for the Always-takers as the traditional high school. Where the ECHS are making difference is by increasing the number of students who are taking these courses. (Contains 5 figures, 6 tables and 4 footnotes.)

This descriptive report examines the strategies of the six Southeast Region states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina) to improve high school graduation rates and student achievement and to increase the number of students leaving high school with the skills and knowledge necessary for the twenty-first century. These state-level strategies are organized into six themes or "levers for change": (1) Standards and assessments (Alignment of standards and assessments with expectations for post-secondary education and with twenty-first century skills); (2) Course requirement (Revised graduation requirements to include courses required for college and mandatory course sequences that make a stronger connection to work readiness); (3) Student support and access to courses (Increased student access to both the courses and the support they need through strategies such as virtual schools, support for Advanced Placement courses, and mandated remediation); (4) Model schools and practices (Creating new model high schools, redesigning existing schools, implementing specific practices such as career academies); (5) Local capacity-building (Building the capacity of local schools and districts to support reform by providing direct professional development or providing coaches or technical assistance teams at schools); and (6) Partnerships and public involvement (Establishing partnerships to support high school reform). State leaders are using their visibility to increase attention to high schools. Deciding which strategies within each lever have the highest potential for accomplishing the desired results is a challenge. Engaging states in a systematic examination of strategies can help states make sound decisions about what policies and interventions can best improve student learning in their state. The report provides information to help states engage in such a systematic process. The list of strategies described under each lever can give policymakers ideas about approaches to consider. But the authors do not mean to endorse every strategy or approach currently being used by states. Instead, policymakers should examine the research literature to discover what studies have found about a strategy's implementation issues and its effectiveness in improving student outcomes. Based on the research, policymakers will want to consider the appropriateness of using a specific strategy to improve student outcomes. This report introduces examples of the key research for each lever. After choosing a strategy, policymakers should monitor implementation of the strategy and evaluate its outcomes. The report concludes with three examples of ways states are currently evaluating strategies in three different levers. Appendixes include: Research methodology; State profiles providing more detailed description of how each of the six states in the Southeast Region use the six levers for change; and Protocols for collecting state-level information. (Contains 19 tables, 5 boxes, and 1 figure.) [This report was prepared for the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences (IES) by Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast administered by SERVE Center, University of North Carolina at Greensboro.]